During the Cold War, space-based satellite surveillance systems were the crown jewels of the US government’s spying capability, peering over the Iron Curtain to reveal the secrets of the Soviet Union.

Take the case of a small Itasca, Illinois-based analytical firm Lanworth Inc., which this month has been scrutinizing satellite images of Russia, too—not to measure military hardware, but to measure wheat production.

“What satellites do is they give us global reach and they give us insights into areas planted in parts of the world that are very difficult to access and very different to understand,” said Nick Kouchoukos, the firm’s vice president of products.

“They give us a global view very early on in the season and let us know what plantings will be.”

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CHICAGO, July 20 — Lanworth, a natural resource intelligence provider, has updated its forest inventory analysis to reflect recent changes in rates of forest usage in the Southeastern United States. The analysis has confirmed upwards of a 50% reduction in rates of harvested acres in some active forest markets, when compared to an equivalent time span from 2004-2007.

Recent economic changes have decreased the need for lumber in the United States and Lanworth’s recent update of forest cover captures the impact of the economic downturn on available forest product.

“Knowing the rate of available forest cover is strategically very important for our clients. Using our data allows clients to reduce their procurement cost by targeting their fiber procurement activities or locating harvest operations at the most optimal location,” said Shailu Verma, Lanworth’s president, founder. “Many in the industry rely on USFS FIA analysis, which was captured during the rise of the housing market and does not represent current forest age status.”

Lanworth’s Forest Age Maps have comprehensively and accurately mapped current forest age and allow the user to identify the most profitable target at a time when minimizing costs is essential to running a business. The implications of the rapid rise and fall of the housing market will impact available forest product for the next decade.

“We find the current and accurate information provided by Lanworth to be an important data source for our wood procurement business. We have used Lanworth’s data to focus our procurement activities in the ongoing effort to reduce the total delivered cost of wood fiber into our mills,” said Jay Watrous, General Operations Leader, Wood Supply, Temple Inland.

About Lanworth

Lanworth (http://Lanworth.com) sets the global standard for natural resource intelligence and is the premier provider of accurate, independent, and timely production intelligence. Operating out of offices in Itasca, Illinois, and Tuscaloosa, Alabama the integrated team at Lanworth presents independent estimation of the world’s most basic resources–food, feed, fuel and fiber. Accurate and timely information of supply risk gives clients a significant advantage in the marketplace, whether they are managing a commodities portfolio or a supply chain. Lanworth provides both subscription reports and custom studies to the agro-forestry sectors.

Fresh U.S. government data rattled corn markets on Wednesday, sending futures prices soaring 9% and raising questions about the precision of earlier estimates.

Analysts said the reduced stocks might be a sign that 2009 production was overstated.

Some traders said the storage report confirmed chatter that livestock and ethanol producers are burning through more corn due to the relatively poor quality of the 2009 crop.

“This is in fact the first real write-down of last year’s corn production that we have seen from them,” said Nick Kouchoukos, director of information services at Lanworth, Inc., a Chicago-based company that relies in part on satellite imagery.

Lanworth’s 2009 crop estimates have been well below the USDA’s outlook since last summer. The company said the crop had a shortened yielding period due to delayed planting and suffered frost damage. Based on its surveys among elevators and weather models, it has projected a supply 8% lower than what the USDA said.

The USDA will issue a more detailed look at usage in its monthly supply and demand report to be released on July 9.

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CHICAGO – July 1, 2010 – The projection made by agricultural intelligence company Lanworth (Lanworth.com), that last year’s U.S. corn and soybean crop production was lower than reported by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), was supported yesterday by the agency’s quarterly Grain Stocks report.

The USDA lowered corn stocks well below analyst expectations to 4.31 billion bushels, indicating faster than expected disappearance of the 2009 crop. Because corn use to date is comparatively well known, such a high rate of disappearance points to a production shortfall.

“We’ve consistently asserted that USDA overstated 2009 corn and soybean production,” said Dr. Nick Kouchoukos, Lanworth’s Vice President, Products. “Its survey methodology did not capture the fundamental limits the very unusual 2009 weather placed on yield.”

Lanworth’s use of biophysical crop models, satellite imagery, and field observations provides a robust platform for early and accurate intelligence on crop area, yield, and production. The company began to inform its clients in July 2009 that the corn and soybean crops would be late maturing with yields comparable to the previous year’s. Meanwhile, USDA raised its own yield projections to record highs.

“Lanworth’s post-harvest surveys of grain elevators and livestock feeding operations supported our more conservative position on yield,” assessed Dr. Kouchoukos, “as did grain quality data provided by USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA). Yesterday’s low stocks estimates add yet more evidence that yields were not there.”

Now in its fourth year delivering leading agricultural intelligence, Lanworth provides long term, science-based crop production forecasts that soften the impact of interim estimates.

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ABOUT LANWORTH
Lanworth (http://Lanworth.com) is the premier provider of accurate, independent, and timely production intelligence to the finance, consumer food product, and agri-business industries. Operating out of offices in Itasca, Illinois, the integrated team at Lanworth is advancing RAY, its flagship agricultural intelligence service, to cover a wider variety of crops and regions with ever-greater accuracy. Providing up-to-the-minute analysis in easy-to-apply formats is the basis of Lanworth’s value. Lanworth provides both subscription reports and custom studies to the agro-forestry sectors.

USDA’s big and unexpected cut in June 1 corn stocks and soybean stocks put new wind into the sails of those who argue the government overstated the size of last year’s crops.

A notable proponent of that view has been the private company Lanworth, whose estimates we’ve discussed several times over the past year.

Following the release of today’s report, Nick Kouchoukos, Lanworth vice president of products, told me he’s “heartened” by the numbers, and he said Lanworth spent the winter reviewing its numbers and looking for ways to corroborate what they’d found.

Click to Read Entire Article: Market Matters Blog July 1, 2010

Lanworth’s Senior Agronomist, Dr. Corey Cherr, presented at the 40th Biological Systems Simulation Conference on April 13-15, 2010, at the University of Arizona and the Arid Land Agricultural Research Center of USDA ARS in Phoenix, AZ. Find out more by clicking here.

As DTN reported Wednesday, private analyst Lanworth is still telling its clients it expects USDA to ultimately lower its tally of corn and soybean production. The firm’s disagreement with USDA data seems to center on test weights. Read Entire Article: Market Matters Blog

The highest corn yield ever by a country mile, and record production estimates for both beans and corn might not paint quite such an accurate picture as the USDA would like to make out. Read Entire Article: Nogger’s Blog

I was one of the guest speakers at the CME’s Market Outlook seminar in Sao Paulo last week, which also included Chicago-based agricultural intelligence company Lanworth. During his informative presentation, Lanworth president Shailu Verma, explained the company’s methods for providing improved crop forecasts using a combination of satellite imagery, “causal” computer models and on-the-ground verification. Read Entire Article: DTN/The Progressive Farmer